Construction of truck-driven railway cars



June 26, 1956 1.. c. PEDERSEN CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCK-DRIVEN RAILWAY CARSFiled July 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

in: C P505255 June 26, 19 c. PEDERSEN CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCK-DRIVENRAILWAY CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1951 INVENTOR.

l 44.; C. PFDFIPJJ'N r I x L -----1 June 26, 1956 c. PEDERSEN 2,751,854

CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCK-DRIVEN RAILWAY CARS Filed July 27, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 44: 6. Aromas-4w United States Patent 9CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCK-DRIVEN RAILWAY CARS Lars C. Peder-sen, Chicago,Iii.

Application July 27, 1951, Serial No. 233,967

3 Ciaims. (Cl. 1(l5159) My invention relates to improvements in theconstruction of railway cars.

My invention relates more particularly to the provision of a railwayfiat car so constructed that a truck or trucktrailer may be driven on tothe floor of the flat car and the railway car driven or propelled by aningenious construction through which the truck motor transmits drivingpower to the railway car.

In connection with certain phases of commercial freight transportationit has become desirable to place truck-trailer combinations upon fiatfreight cars and move the cars from one place to another upon therailway track systems. The usual equipment is a typical flat railway carupon which the wheels are blocked and the car is then moved about aspart of a railway freight train. Upon arrival at its destination theblocks are removed, an inclined platform is placed at the end of the carand the truck trailer is driven off to deliver its load.

One disadvantage of this method is the delay caused by waiting for thetrain make-up as well as the extra switching and other handlingnecessary where the car is a part of a complete train.

I contemplate the construction of a railway car upon which a truck ortruck-trailer may be driven, the front wheels blocked, the truck motorstarted and the driving wheels of the truck will drive rollers which,through a direct bevel gear transmission, drive the wheels 'of therailway car to move the same forward to its destination.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a flat railway carpower transmission mechanism whereby the rotation of the wheels of atruck positioned on the car is transmitted to the car wheels to propelthe car down the railway tracks.

A further object of the invention is to provide power transmissionmechanism in a railway car adjustable to permit a drive from a truckhaving either single or double wheel drives.

Other objects and advantages of my improved construction will be moreapparent from the following description wherein reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, upon which- Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewshowing the truck trailer in position upon the flat car which I employ;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, the body of the trailer being removed sothat only the tires are visible;

Fig. 3 is similar plan view showing a changed position of the mechanismon the railway car where a single rather than a dual wheel truck isemployed;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken generally on the line4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.1, with parts broken in section to more clearly show other parts;

- Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. l;and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the powertransmission means which I employ, the housing of the same being brokeninto section.

In the embodiment of the invention which I have chosen to illustrate anddescribe the same, in Fig. 1 I have shown a flat car 10 of the usualtype having the sets of track engaging wheels 12, 14 and 16 mounted uponthe axles 18, 20 and 22, the sets of wheels riding on the railway trackT. The freight car is provided at both ends with the usual couplers C sothat they may be connected together to form part of a train whendesired.

The freight car 10 which I have illustrated is preferably a flat carhaving the horizontal floor or supporting platform 24 and a pair ofvertical side walls designated generally as 26 and 28. Each of the axlesfor the car wheels is provided with a pair of the usual journal boxes3i) and 32 suitably mounted underneath the floor of the car.

As best shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the car platform 24 comprises a forwardportion 34 having an enlarged opening 36 and a rear portion 38 having anelongated central opening 40. Within the opening 36 I mount a pluralityof elongated rollers 42, 44, 46 and 48, so spaced that when a motordriven vehicle, such as the truck trailer 52, is positioned at the endof the freight car, the front wheels 54 will come to rest against a skidor block 56 adjacent the front of the car, and the dual sets of drivingwheels 58 and 60 will rest upon the periphery of the rollers, the wheels58 upon the rollers 46 and 48, and the wheels 60 upon the rollers 42 and44.

The back wheels 62 of the truck trailer will rest upon the platform 38adjacent the back end of the freight car.

The roller 48 has an axle 64 keyed thereto, the axle extending through apair of bearings 68 and 70 adjacent its ends and extending through theside walls 26 and 28 of the car. A bevel gear '72 is secured to each endof the shaft 64, the bevel gear meshing with a pinion 74 mounted upon ashaft 76 supported by a bearing 78 in the housing 80. The shaft 76carries a second pinion 82 at its lower end in mesh with a bevel gear 84keyed to the end of the car wheel axle 22.

The roller 42 is provided with a similar axle 86 which extends throughthe side walls of the freight car in a similar manner and by means ofsimilar bevel gears and pinions is in a direct driving relation to thecar Wheel axle 20.

With this construction, when it is desired ,to move a loaded trucktrailer from a point of departure such as the railroad yards in one cityto a destination in the railroad yards or on a switch track in someother city, after the truck trailer, including the truck 51, has beenplaced upon the flat car, as shown in Fig. l, the motor of the truck isstarted, the gears are shifted, and the wheels 58 and 60 start rotatingas though the truck were being driven down the highway. By frictionalcontact of the tires with the four sets of rollers 42, 44, 46 and 48,the rollers are rotated, the rollers 42 and 48 transmitting the rotationdown through the bevel and pinion gears to the car wheel axles 2t) and22. In this manner the railway car is started and may be moved forwardon the track to its destination, unloaded, and either driven ofl? thefreight car to be reloaded, or it may be used to transport or move theempty freight car to another destination.

In the construction of flat car which I have provided, 1 have alsoarranged for the reception of a single drive truck. Thus, for example,as shown in Fig. 4, the truck may be provided with single sets of frontwheels 54 and a single set of driving wheels 58. When this type of truckis to be utilized on the freight car, the two idler rollers 44 and 46may be removed by removing the bearings 90 and 92 located at each end ofthe axles 94 and 96. The bearings are normally fastened in place in aparallel walled guide 1% in the side walls of the freight car, and theremoval or replacement of the rollers is thus a comparatively simplematter. After these idler rollers have been removed, the roller 42 andits associated power transmission unit, the car wheels 14 and car axle20 are moved forward in the guide 100 and an additional guide 102 sothat'the roller 42 is positioned in the same location the roller 46previously occupied. By placing removable planking 1G4 across theopening 36, the truck can be driven upon the freight car with the frontwheels against the skids 56.

- Means for moving the unit forward to this position may include agenerally U-shaped bracket 110 which has a pair of arms 112 and 114 thatextend forward with journals 1'16'through which the axle 20 extends. Arotatable screw member 113 is connected to the frame 110 and is threadedthrough a cross-brace 126 of the freight car. -A hand-wheel 122 isconnected to the end for rotating the screw member. Thus, when the handwheel 122 is rotated, the frame 110 will be moved forward at the end ofthe screw member, the bearings for the car wheel axle 20 being guided inthe slot 102 and the bearings forthe axle 86 being guided in the slot100. When the roller and car wheels are moved forward to the positionshown in Fig. 4, they will be resting in the ends of the guide slots andbe in the same position that the previous idler roller .46 occupied withrespect to the truck wheels. The power transmission units 80 may beenclosed, as shown, and packed with grease or other lubricant so thatthe pinion'and bevel gears will be lubricated at all times. .From theforegoing exemplification of the general embodiment of the invention, itcan be seen that the principal objective is to provide a constructionfor the transmission of the power from the truck trailer wheels to the.railway car wheels that are on the rails. This is done by revolving therollers upon which the truck-driven wheels rest while the truck ispositioned on the railway car.

After the truck has been driven on the car, there is nothing more to dothan to block the front wheels of the truck, release the brakes on therailway car, start the truck and drive along the tracks as though youwere driving' down the highway. The rollers through which the power isapplied to move the car forward will also act to check the speed of thecar in the same manner when the truck brakes are applied, bringing therailway car to a full stop as easily as if the brakes were applieddirectly to the car wheels.

. The pinion and bevel gears previously described at each end of the tworollers 42 and 48 transmit the power to the railway cars for drivingwheels. Four rollers are used, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, when a doubledrive or dual axled truck is used. When a single driving .axle truckisused, the two center rollers are removed, the seconddriving roller andits associated car axle and wheels are moved forward to the properposition, and 'all'four front wheels of the railway car will again bedirectly engaged both for driving and braking purposes. The second carwheel axle and associated roller are easily moved forward by rotatingthe threaded rod 118 by means of the hand wheel 122.

While in the construction shown the deck or platform .of the freight caris above the level of the railway car wheels, it can be seen that byvariation in design and construction the height may be considerablylowered if desired. Since there are no springs on this type of railwayfiat car, the trailer trucks air-filled tires serve to'form a cushionnot only for the load in the truck trailer itself, but'also for thefreight car in that they will absorb any and all. vibration or bumpswhich are received.

From the above and foregoing description it can be seen that I haveprovided a system of transportation whereby the power source of thetruck upon the flat car is moved directly to move the car about. Thiswill result in easier and more efiicient handling of loads than waspreviously possible where a truck was loaded on a flat car and it wasnecessary to wait for switch engines and for other reasons which arecommon in the ordinary and usual methods of handling freight cars.

I contemplate that changes and modifications may be made in the exactdetails shown and I do not wish to be limited in any particular; ratherwhat I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. The combination of a truck-trailer having dual sets of driving wheelsand a railway car having wheels to run on rails, a platform on saidrailway car to support said truck-trailer, two pairs of sets of spacedelongated rollers mounted on said car cross-wise of the same, thedriving wheels of the truck-trailer resting on the periphery of eachpair of said sets of rollers medially therebetween, and driving meansbetween one set of each pair of sets of said rollers and said car wheelsto transmit forward rotary movement of the driving wheels of saidtrucktrailer to revolve said rollers tomove said railway car forward onthe rails, said driving means including a bevel gear and pinionconnection between the axles of each of said sets of rollers and theaxles of said railway car wheels, each pair of sets of rollers includingone set of driving and one set of idler rollers, both said sets of idlerrollers removable when a single axle truck is positioned on the freightcar, and means for moving one of said sets of driving rollers forwardadjacent the other set of driving rollers, said means including bracketswhich support said set of driving rollers and a screw-threaded rodmember for moving said brackets and rollers in a back and forth manner.

2. The combination of a truck-trailer having dual sets of driving wheelsand a railway car having wheels to run on rails, a platform on saidrailway car to support said truck-trailer, two pairs of sets of spacedrollers mounted on said car cross-wise of the same, the driving wheelsof the truck-trailer resting on the periphery of each pair of said setsof rollers medially therebetween, and driving means between one set ofeach pair of sets of said rollers and said car wheels to transmit rotarymovement of the driving wheels of said truck-trailer to revolve saidrollers to move said railway car forward on the rails, each pair of setsof rollers including one set of driving and one set of idler rollers,both said sets of idler rollers removable when a single axle truck ispositioned on the freight car, and means for moving one of said sets ofdriving rollers forward adjacent the other set of driving rollers, saidmeans including brackets which support said set of driving rollersand ascrew-threaded rod member for moving said brackets and rollers in a backand forth manner.

3. The combination of a truck-trailer having dual sets of driving wheelsand a railway car having wheels to run on rails, a platform on saidrailway car to support said truck-trailer, said platform having sidewalls, two pairs of sets of spaced elongated rollers mounted on said carcross-wise of the same, the driving wheels of the truck-trailer restingon the periphery of each pair of said'set's of rollers mediallytherebetween, and driving means between one set of each pair of sets ofsaid rollers and said car wheels to transmit forward rotary movement ofthe driving wheels of said truck-trailer to revolve said rollers to movesaid railway car forward on the rails, said driving means including abevel gear and pinion connection between the axles of each of said setsof rollers and the'axles of said railway car wheels, each pair of sets.of rollers including one set of driving and one set of idler rollers,both said sets of idler rollers removable when a single axle truck ispositioned on the freight car, and means for moving one of said sets ofdriving rollers forward adjacent the other set of driving rollers, saidmeans including brackets which support said set of driving rollers and ascrew-threaded rod member for moving said brackets and rollers in a backand forth manner, parallel guides in the sidewalls of said car, saidbrackets movable in said guides.

' (References on foliowing page) References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED I STATES PATENTS Getchell Aug. 23, 1887 Altorfer Oct. 26,1915 Tibbler et a1 Dec. 21, 1915 Nickels Jan. 23, 1917 Clayton Oct. 6,1925 6 Exon Aug. 5, 1930 Fageol Sept. 27, 1932 Gustafson May 8, 1934Miller July 17, 1934 Klima et a1 Aug. 29, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS FranceSept. 22, 1933

